On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 14:28:57 -0700, Keyboard In The Wilderness wrote:

I looked up my lighter circuit and it is 8 amps -- so 8 x 12 = 96 Watts --
at 50% or so efficiency -- should handle a 45 watt radio -- but that is
pushing it to say nothing of stray noise that may be introduced and a
possible voltage drop. Also the cigarette lighter may go thru the ignition
switching.


That was my thinking. As a note, I was just talking to a buddy of mine
with an Excursion. His "lighter plug" is actually labeled "accessory plug"
and had a 20A fuse in it from the factory. That tool replaced it with a
30A fuse so he could run his inverter rated at 25A. We won't discuss that
call any further.

Somehow on all my cars I find a grommet that lets me get thru the firewall
without drilling.

That's good to know. I'll have to poke around a bit more and see what I
can find in my 2002 Impala. I did have real good luck this afternoon on my
'97 Silverado 2500. The previous owner had already run 12g through the
firewall, so I had a hole to work with. I rewired it primarily because I
wasn't sure what he had done - it was a bit confusing.

Anyway, on the Silverado there are two "taps" - basically large studs -
along side of the fuse box. Each stud is hot and fused right in the box
with a 30A fuse. I made up a couple of cables and ran these right into the
cab using the existing hole. Found a good ground spot right on the
firewall, so it's nice and short as well! Both cables are about 5' in
length. Of course while these studs look stock (the fuse box cover
actually is molded to fit right over them) they might not be, so if
you happen to have a Silverado and don't see these studs don't blame me!

I'm sure the Impala won't be quite as easy.

--
John LeMay
kc2kth
Senior Technical Manager
NJMC | http://www.njmc.com | Phone 732-557-4848
Specializing in Microsoft and Unix based solutions

On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 14:50:52 -0700, Keyboard In The Wilderness wrote:

Just looked up the current draw of an ICOM IC-2100H -- tis 12 Amperes on 50W
transmit. Their IC- V8000 draws 15 Amperes at 75 Watts transmit. I wouldn't
connect either of these radios to the cigarette lighter plug.

I looked at my Yaesu 5100. It has 12A fuses, but my power supply reports
it's only drawing about 6A on "high". My Diamond meter reports it's only
putting out about 20W on high on 2M, and a bit less on 70cm. Obviously
both of these numbers are suspect since I haven't had either device
calibrated, but I think I'm safe in this case.

Now when my new Yaesu 8800 gets here next week I'll have another data
point to check both the power supply and power meter against.

--
John LeMay
kc2kth
Senior Technical Manager
NJMC | http://www.njmc.com | Phone 732-557-4848
Specializing in Microsoft and Unix based solutions

On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 14:50:52 -0700, Keyboard In The Wilderness wrote:

Just looked up the current draw of an ICOM IC-2100H -- tis 12 Amperes on 50W
transmit. Their IC- V8000 draws 15 Amperes at 75 Watts transmit. I wouldn't
connect either of these radios to the cigarette lighter plug.

I looked at my Yaesu 5100. It has 12A fuses, but my power supply reports
it's only drawing about 6A on "high". My Diamond meter reports it's only
putting out about 20W on high on 2M, and a bit less on 70cm. Obviously
both of these numbers are suspect since I haven't had either device
calibrated, but I think I'm safe in this case.

Now when my new Yaesu 8800 gets here next week I'll have another data
point to check both the power supply and power meter against.

--
John LeMay
kc2kth
Senior Technical Manager
NJMC | http://www.njmc.com | Phone 732-557-4848
Specializing in Microsoft and Unix based solutions

On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 18:13:44 -0400, John LeMay
wrote:

On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 14:28:57 -0700, Keyboard In The Wilderness wrote:

Somehow on all my cars I find a grommet that lets me get thru the firewall
without drilling.

That's good to know. I'll have to poke around a bit more and see what I
can find in my 2002 Impala. I did have real good luck this afternoon on my
'97 Silverado 2500. The previous owner had already run 12g through the
firewall, so I had a hole to work with. I rewired it primarily because I
wasn't sure what he had done - it was a bit confusing.

Car stereo places and installers are sometimes a good resource for
this sort of thing, as they need the same type of feedthrough.

Happy trails,
Gary (net.yogi.bear)
------------------------------------------------
at the 51st percentile of ursine intelligence

Gary D. Schwartz, Needham, MA, USA
Please reply to: garyDOTschwartzATpoboxDOTcom

On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 18:13:44 -0400, John LeMay
wrote:

On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 14:28:57 -0700, Keyboard In The Wilderness wrote:

Somehow on all my cars I find a grommet that lets me get thru the firewall
without drilling.

That's good to know. I'll have to poke around a bit more and see what I
can find in my 2002 Impala. I did have real good luck this afternoon on my
'97 Silverado 2500. The previous owner had already run 12g through the
firewall, so I had a hole to work with. I rewired it primarily because I
wasn't sure what he had done - it was a bit confusing.

Car stereo places and installers are sometimes a good resource for
this sort of thing, as they need the same type of feedthrough.

Happy trails,
Gary (net.yogi.bear)
------------------------------------------------
at the 51st percentile of ursine intelligence

Gary D. Schwartz, Needham, MA, USA
Please reply to: garyDOTschwartzATpoboxDOTcom

John,

Well, I use a Power Station (12vdc battery pack) in my car. I mounted my Yaesu
FT-1500M to it, put the charging cord into the cigarette lighter, and it works
fine. Plus, I can remove the battery pack and rig within 60 seconds for theft
deterence. I run the rig up to 50 watts out but generally at 25.

73s,

Evan

John,

Well, I use a Power Station (12vdc battery pack) in my car. I mounted my Yaesu
FT-1500M to it, put the charging cord into the cigarette lighter, and it works
fine. Plus, I can remove the battery pack and rig within 60 seconds for theft
deterence. I run the rig up to 50 watts out but generally at 25.

73s,

Evan

Somehow on all my cars I find a grommet that lets me get thru the
firewall without drilling.


One choice I've resorted to on a number of installations in sedans is
to locate where the major cable bundle on the driver's side firewall goes
through. It is usually embedded in a very large rubber seal. I usually
can take a sharp flat bladed screwdriver and poke a hold in this rubber,
being careful not to hit the cables in the center bundle. Poking a #14
black and red wires through this new slot is not difficult and usually
provides adequate power from the battery to most dash mounted radios and
other equipment.


Ed

Somehow on all my cars I find a grommet that lets me get thru the
firewall without drilling.


One choice I've resorted to on a number of installations in sedans is
to locate where the major cable bundle on the driver's side firewall goes
through. It is usually embedded in a very large rubber seal. I usually
can take a sharp flat bladed screwdriver and poke a hold in this rubber,
being careful not to hit the cables in the center bundle. Poking a #14
black and red wires through this new slot is not difficult and usually
provides adequate power from the battery to most dash mounted radios and
other equipment.


Ed

I wonder how one might be able to use a 1-3 farad capacitor to operate a 100
watt HF radio with better regulation and higher average current on SSB.. The
big audio amps use this technique effectively.


"Keyboard In The Wilderness" wrote in message
news:nhL%a.4824$S_.966@fed1read01...
John FYI -- from a recommended book:
Mobile power. It is tempting to use the cigarette lighter plug for 12
Volts
to power the mobile radio and this may work for low power units, but it is
always best to run two heavy gage wires through the firewall and directly
to
the battery via fuses in both lines. Don't use the chassis as a ground
return, ground loop problems and noise pickup may occur, run both + and -
lines to the battery. FM mobile transceivers with 50 W of output power can
draw up to 10-12 Amperes of current at 12 Volts. Most cigarette lighter
plugs cannot handle these high currents. Operating a 50 W mobile
transceiver
from the cigarette lighter plug may cause permanent damage to vehicle's
electrical system, and can also be a fire hazard. You can probably operate
a
6 W handheld transceiver from the cigarette lighter plug, but not a higher
wattage radio.
============================================
"John LeMay" wrote in message
news
I recently purchased a used rig and along with it came a nice cigar
lighter adapter that terminated in two "lugs" with screw on caps for
attaching the power cable of the rig. There is no cord on this adapter
itself. Anyone know where I can find a couple more of these? They seem
ideal for running moderate powered mobile rigs ( 50W ).

thanks!

--
John LeMay
kc2kth
Senior Technical Manager
NJMC | http://www.njmc.com | Phone 732-557-4848
Specializing in Microsoft and Unix based solutions